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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26883853">four’s a crowd</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dupesoclock/pseuds/dupesoclock'>dupesoclock</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Apex Legends (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(Involuntary) Double Dates, Humour, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:54:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,402</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26883853</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dupesoclock/pseuds/dupesoclock</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>And when Caustic paused his thoughts and looked at him as he laughed into his straw, he almost… smiled, holding a hand on the table, which Taejoon placed on his own. Maybe… maybe-</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Hands slamming against the window and muffled yelling from the pair on the other side of the glass ruined any tender moment they were going to share.
</i>
</p><p>
  <i>--
</i>
</p><p>
  <i>so stop me if you’d heard this one before, but a wanted hacker, a wanted chemist, a wanted streamer and an unwanted engineer are sitting in a coffee shop...</i>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Caustic | Alexander Nox/Crypto | Park Tae Joon, Mirage | Elliott Witt/Octane | Octavio Silva</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>four’s a crowd</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>forewarning. I am writing for crypto for the rest of rarepair week. I really don’t know how this happened but on god? Proud of me. He deserves it bro. If the quests won’t give him the lives he deserves then god dammit I will.</p>
<p>This is very heavily based on my friend Nate’s comic, found <a href="https://the-goolings.tumblr.com/post/190880588036/happy-late-valentines-crypto-finally-gets-the">here</a>, which he drew last Valentine’s Day and I’ve been promising to write something for ever since. WELL GUESS WHAT NATHAN. I KNOW YOURE READING THIS SIMP. GET Y’ALLS JUICE /j</p>
<p>tumblr mirror <a href="https://dupesoclock.tumblr.com/post/631450011833679872/fours-a-crowd">here</a>, please consider supporting me there with a reblog and also here with kudos and comments if you enjoyed. thank you, stay safe, and don’t forget to love each other! ❤️</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Everything had been going so… </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> well.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Well, about as well as you would expect, between the two of them. Taejoon (only to himself - it was Hyoen to his friends and Crypto to everyone else) has invited Caustic out for coffee, on a day when they both were free, with no match or training or press-related issue concerning the ethics of gassing what should be your friends in a bloodsport (“simply preposterous” was all the doctor had commented on the whole affair, loudly and angrily sipping from his mug), and perhaps a walk around a local park afterwards, however the whole affair went. It was not a date. Though he held some feelings for the scientist, he would never call this a date. He wasn’t a child in high school anymore, this was entirely professional - and besides, who in their right mind would insinuate that Caustic, a scientist with a huge, dark secret, would fall in love with the one man who could unwind everything he had strived for as an Apex Legend? The loss of so many subjects would be devastating to his research.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But he was almost relaxed as they talked, enjoying the awkward jokes the hacker was making, even indulging in gossip about their fellow competitors, something that Taejoon hadn’t even come close to imagining he would ever do. He enjoyed the coffee they shared, and talked about plants in such an earnest way that he watched the way his face was so much softer outside of the arena, and how the sunlight through the café window seat hit his face in such a way that the freckles dusting his cheeks had a bright glow to them. And when Caustic paused his thoughts and looked at him as he laughed into his straw, he almost… smiled, holding a hand on the table, which Taejoon placed on his own. Maybe… maybe-</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hands slamming against the window and muffled yelling from the pair on the other side of the glass ruined any tender moment they were going to share, Elliott and Octavio spotting the pair from the street and clearly deciding the best thing to do was to ruin their day on purpose. As the two of them drew way too much attention to themselves in the window, Taejoon stole a glance to the scientist, who was pinching the bridge of his nose and probably telling himself to exercise restraint, as out of the corner of his eye the two disappeared, and the twinkle of the bell above the door only told them one thing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, hey! What a coincidence seeing you old lugs out and about.” The trickster took a seat beside Caustic, looking between the two of them with an eyebrow wiggle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And no one asked for you to act on it, Witt.” Crypto pointedly replied, almost growling, though his anger quickly subsided with surprise as Octavio sat next to him, practically bowling into him with the force.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ay ay, cool it, Hackerman. Can’t we kick it with our compadres when we see ‘em?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If they’re busy? Negative.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The runner frowned a little, practically pouting as he folded his arms across the table, the bouncing of his leg under the table audible in the radius around them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“C’mon, just one drink, on me, and we’ll leave to your, ah…” Elliott clicked his tongue, stealing a glance at his partner from across the table, then to Crypto, and then Caustic. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Business.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If murder was legal, Elliott Witt would have been dead twice over, from the daggers in his direction. Crypto knew that if he was alone, he wouldn’t have dared to do this - Octavio brought out the worst in him… but also, admittedly, the best, as the trickster called over the waitress to order, letting his boyfriend order first, and looking over to him with the stupidest, dopiest smile, that told everyone in the room that he fell in love with the idiot all over again every time he spoke.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So that’s how the two of them ended up trapped between two of the stupidest and most annoying of their co-workers for the better part of an hour, barely able to get a word in between the two of them talking and laughing. It was almost envious, how they were so open and confident in their relationship, and here Crypto was, only now working up the courage and finding the time to converse with the man he’d wanted to be with in all his time watching the Apex games. The hacker looked back over to Caustic now, who seemed to have tuned the other men out, staring out of the window and sipping on his coffee with an annoyed resignation. Warm, brown eyes caught in staring in the reflection of the glass, and looked over, rolling his eyes slightly, making Crypto have to suppress a snort by taking a sip of his own drink.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The two did eventually clear off, though ‘coincidently’ (Crypto would not trust Octavio as far as he could throw him when he tried to claim that) following their path through the park. Leaves crunched under their feet as they tried to ignore the eyes burning into the back of their head, The late afternoon was pleasant enough, air chilly but not too cold, though Caustic still offered his coat to the younger man, one which he would not have objected to had it not been far too big for him. And though they walked all the way around, it seemed they were still a public spectacle for the pair of idiots without a braincell between them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, this is ridiculous. A moment’s peace, and yet-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Agreed.” Crypto kept his voice low to match the scientist’s, fists shaking with a slowly building anger. Murder was not legal, but had he not been a man of cowardice he may have considered a hit and run, in the loosest sense.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Perhaps we should split up. Pretend to part ways, and return here?” Caustic stopped in front of a hot dog cart, pointedly turning.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good idea. Five minutes?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ten, to be safe. I’m sure neither of them have the patience.” He held out his hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...What are you doing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Parting ways. This is how we proceed, is it not?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>To a date? Absolutely not, what the hell was he thinking. ...Then again, this was not a date. Crypto has insisted as much to himself. He took his hand, speaking louder, to make sure that he was heard. “Good day to you, Doctor.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And to you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was awkward, and unnecessarily prolonged, but it got the point across, surely. Crypto headed for the trees in the center of the park while Caustic walked in the opposite direction. It was difficult not to glance back, to see if he was looking back too, or to see if the bait had been taken. He released a sigh he didn’t know he was holding in, turning to grab a drink from the soda machine he passed by with the last of the loose change in his pocket. The hacker pulled the can from the slot and popped the ring off, taking a slow drink, cringing at the fizz and strong taste of grape as he took a seat on the bench nearby, waiting for the longest ten minutes of his life.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And they took the bait, hook, line and sinker, as after returning to the cart he found that Caustic was already waiting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A flawless plan as always, Doctor.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hummed, nodding a little. “Well, I could not have done it without your cooperation. Thank you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Caustic put his hands into the pockets of his coat, looking around at the late afternoon crowd that had begun to disperse around them, families and couples heading home. “Well, I must say that despite… complications, this was a pleasant afternoon. I would not object to joining you on something like this again, Mr. Kim.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Crypto looked up at the scientist, smiling a little. “Oh? I’d, ah… like that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then perhaps tomorrow? Silva will be training, and I believe Witt will be having some… business obligations to deal with.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The way he said the last half of that sentence implied ill intent, but the hacker chose to pretend he did not hear it as such, and instead reply to the proposal, somewhat shakily. “Ya, sounds like a plan.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So perhaps… this was a date, after all.</span>
</p>
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